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Every fall, AfroTech brings tens of thousands of Black tech workers (and their corporate friends) to Houston, and for plenty of them it doubles as a reunion. Charles Beloved Productions and Eventnoire made it official with Black Tech Reunion at Velvet Rail.
Blavity launched AfroTech in the Bay Area in 2016 with 650 people. For its 10th anniversary, the conference drew 35,000 attendees across Houston from Nov. 2 through 6, according to AfroTech. The lineup included more than 300 speakers on 11 stages, and Blavity has said AfroTech will be back in Houston in 2027.
The party ran from 6 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at the downtown venue on Main Street, right in the middle of conference week. Francesca Eva, DJ NP3 and CJ Williams were on the 1s and 2s and kept the vibes going throughout the night.
Charles Beloved has been a fixture of AfroTech nightlife for years, and he stayed busy this time around. Besides Black Tech Reunion, his calendar included Amazon House 2026, Legacy in Motion and Thursday’s Conference Afters at Provaré. He and Eventnoire also teamed up on the Everybody Eats Curator Lunch earlier that day.
If you ordered a cocktail that night, odds are it had Martell in it. The cognac brand was the presenting sponsor, and it backed Eventnoire’s Curator Summit earlier this year too. The Afrobeats Mix was just Martell VS Davido and pineapple juice, while the Martarita leaned closest to a margarita, and bartenders made it with Blue Swift, mango liqueur, lime juice and agave. There was also a Cranberry Highball with Martell VS, cranberry juice and ginger ale.
Tito’s drinkers were putting their money where their mouthes were (literally). From Oct. 6 through Nov. 8, Tito’s Handmade Vodka gave Cool Dad $1 for each Tito’s cocktail sold and capped the total at $25,000. That window covered all of AfroTech week, so every one poured at Velvet Rail counted.
See photos from Black Tech Reunion below. For more of what happened in Houston that week, read Eventnoire’s Guide to AfroTech 2026, and find your next event at Eventnoire.com.
